Double trouble
by Noir Detective
Summary: What if Illusive man wasn't confident in success of project Lazarus. What if he had a backup plan. What if it didn't go as planned. How will the galaxy deal with two Shepard's where only one of them is a human? ME2 AU M for language, violence and some adult situations.
1. Prologue

**Double trouble**

Prologue

**Orbit of Alchera**

Cmdr. Cassandra Sydney Shepard S.P.E.C.T.R.E. stared as the wreck of, what was left from, her beloved ship started to explode and fall towards Alchera. The massive dreadnaught that was responsible for carnage of her ship was leaving towards the relay and she could see several escape pods heading out of gravity field of the Alchera. Shepard felt as relief flooded her when she saw that that pods were left alone as her friends and remnants of her crew were safe. She took a long breath knowing that it will be her last as her suit was damaged and on top of that she was slowly heading to make close acquaintance with Alcheras surface as she was pulled by its gravity field. On the hud of her suit she could see that her air supply just ran out. She could feel that the darkness started to envelop her as last thought was: "_Damn I will never have chance to introduce Liara to mum_."

She closed her eyes and embraced eternity before darkness swallowed her….

**Club Artemis Illium**

**23:35 of local time**

Athriel Rivdale was slowly sipping her wine overlooking a mass of swirling bodies on a dance floor. She enjoyed her downtime, as she was sure that her boss would assign new mission for her and her fellow commandos. She was surprised when next to her sat an epiphany of an Assarian beauty dressed in a extremely tight leather outfit. She gulped when the beauty asked her, if she is going buy her a drink.

"Of-f-f courrrse" she stammered. _Wow smooth, real smooth _She thought to herself. _Goddesses preserve me I am 217 but I am stuttering like a teenager. Get your act together girl you are commando for goodness's sake. _She mentally admonished herself as she smiled charmingly at her companion.

**Back alley behind Club Artemis**

**Two hours later**

As the beauty dragged Athriel from the bar, she thought that this was the best and the hottest night she ever had in her life and it will probably get even better, as the beauty that was kissing her murmured to her, that she would experience pleasure far beyond that of a normal melding.

Few hours later her unconscious body was found in the same back alley. Never to woken again. As she come to be another unlucky victim of an attack of an Ardat-Yakshi.

**Location Unknown**

The Illusive man took long draft from his cigarette and looked on man who was sitting in front of his table.

There was siting Prof. Orfanik Eisenstein and he was nibbling on a carrot. The man know as The Illusive Man looked at his acquaintance again. "_He looks like as basis for the stereotype of the mad scientist from all those old movies. I wonder if he looks like this on purpose or has more loose screws than I thought._

True to his thoughts Orfanik Eisenstein indeed looked like a walking, breathing stereotype of a mad scientist. Prof. Orfanik Eisenstein was small, humped, slightly rounded, caucasian man. He had dirty and unkempt mob, of what probably used to be fiery red hair, that was sticking into all direction accompanied with similarly unkempt goatee. He had high forehead, big electric blue eye that was looking at world through thick glasses, also he was wearing an eye patch over his right eye, as a result of his first experience in inventing explosives. Overall his face looked like a human version of a bulldog. He was wearing a lab coat that was stained from what was probably a human blood, motor oil and many other unthinkable and imaginable fluids. What was also prominent was his right forehand or therefore the lack of it due to his second experience with inventing explosives. Instead of it he had strange looking skeletal artificial limb that was outfitted with various integrated tools and also with an omni-tool.

He looked at him again and spoke. "So you are sure that your project will be successful? The fate of the humanity might depend on it. If the project Lazarus fails."

The professor stopped his nibbling on his carrot absent-mindedly stroked his beard as he said, "Technoscientific revolution will prevail!" It was said in a manner as a normal people are saying: "As I was saying" or "Well". Then he turned pensive for a second and continued. "Transfer will be successful. No doubts about it. At least to the temporal holding system. Only problem that I can foresee so far is a lack of the suitable host body for the final transfer. There might be problems with the cloned body as the Alliance interferes with the genetics of their N7 marines. But we might be able to get around that obstacle. And if we don't succeed. I have received unaltered samples of genetic material from both of her parents, if we will have to create completely new body for her. Closer relation between subjects makes safer results." He concluded then he then sighted miserably. "I still can't understand why you didn't want to use that cyborg body I have created."

Illusive man quirked eyebrow to that and said. "Need I remind you that the said body had slaughtered nearly the whole base, including you, when turned on last time as the "pilot" went mad from body's programing?"

Professor looked sheepishly at him " I'm sure it was only a glitch." he mumbled.

"No we need Shepard as unaltered, as possible, if we want to succeed. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir" professor reluctantly agreed.

Illusive man looked at him for several seconds while in deep thoughts and then he said with a tone of finality.

"Good then. The project Shiva has green. Keep me updated with your progress." With that he dismissed professor from his office.

**AN This is it folks more will be in the next chapter I would like to say big thank you to Tellur for all of his suggestions and help from him when creating this fic. Check his works they are awesome.**

**Logging of Noir Detective**

**PS I am looking for beta if anybody is interested as English is not my first language and I still make lots of mistakes.**


	2. Chapter One

**Location Unknown**

**Time Seven months after beginning of project Lazarus**

A single curse reverberated through the silence permeating the office on board the space station.

"Kurva! *"Spat Orfanik as he studied results of his latest attempt creating a new body for Cassandra Shepard. And started pacing around his office.

He had been prepared to run into some difficulties but this was beyond ridiculous. He had expected that Alliance genetic tampering, which supposedly should prevent the cloning of N7 marines, would give him some trouble, but that even after five months of attempts to break it, he wasn't successful to find way around it.

He then looked at the results of his latest attempt and sighted. Everything looked okay on paper. He was certain that they covered all bases for possible mistakes, errors and that all of the Alliance genetic tampering's Then why the resulting body looked like some horror circus freak was beyond him.

He sighted again and activated his omni-tool's comlink-unit to summon his minion… err assistant.

"Get rid of that…. that…thing." he ordered as his assistant arrived in his office, gesturing at the monitor showing his latest unsuccessful experiment. "Then bring me an apple." He ordered in an absent-minded manner, just before the assistant left.

He sunk into his antique armchair he had in his office and contemplated his next move.

_"Time is not my friend right now" he mused to himself "not at all…"_

_"Lawson and that twit Wilson have been working on Lazarus for seven months now. With her current speed of advancement she will have Shepard running around in less than eighteen months. I have to do better than that, if I want the Technoscientific revolution to succeed. I have less than a year, maybe not even half to succeed." _

_"Well this avenue of creating a cloned body is a dead-end anyway." _

As his gaze wandered to the monitor showing the removal of the last body from it's container before it was incinerated.

_"I cannot afford to waste more time on this path." _He then started considering his other plans and contingencies he had envisioned. He had several so far…

Plan B, if he hadn't succeeded with cloning Shepard, counted on using samples from her parents to create a completely new "sister" body that he would use. With some small surgical and genetic tampering she would be undistinguishable from the original Shepard.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. There will be slight difference in a genetic code it would be a minuscule difference, it would be even smaller than the difference between mono zygotic twins. And also there was another catch.

The problem, although it was purely theoretical and untested, was that during his experiments prior project Shiva he found out that using a host body for the mind transfer that was not cloned directly from the minds 'donor', it had to be strong biotic that had practised his skills for several years. Plus he hadn't even tested this theory in his previous experiments, as he had used clones and had no reasons to do it other way anyway. It was a problem he had no contingency for…

Plan C was using some poor doll that was a strong biotic and turn her into the likeness of Shepard by surgical means, but it had the same problems like the previous plan. Plus the DNA would be completely different, ruining any possible claims that his Shepard had that she was the real Commander Shepard and not some psychotic fan…

Plan D would was last ditch effort. And a big no-go for TIM. It consisted of using a synthetic body, shaped into Shepard's likeness…

_"No. Plan D is a bust anyway, even without those glitches in the interface"_ Orfanik shook his head sadly. Then he looked at the bowl full of apples that his assistant had placed in front of him while he had been deep in thought.

He placed one of the apples into a small ring that was in the corner of his table and flipped small switch on the side of the ring.

The apple suddenly rose about one foot into the air and started to hover there.

He had a small grin on his face as his non-mass effect anti-gravity device started to work and raised the apple into the air.

_"Before I begin with plan B I need to get my hands on some strong biotic for my experiments, but where could I get one? Hmmm…"_

A short burst of slightly maniacal laughter bubbled from his chest.

_"That Lawson bint would do well as my test subject…." He shook his head. "Nah... The boss wouldn't let me near her. Pity, but I can dream." _

He shook his head again and took another apple and started nibbling on it as he begun searching his and Cerberus's records for a new test subject. One on which he could test his theory.

As he flicked through the files, one caught his eye. It was a two weeks old news article from the Illium Times.

It was about a victim of an Ardat-Yakshi. What interested him, was that the victim was still alive, although as some would say she was alive, but the lights were out and nobody was home…

His mind went straight into overdrive.

_"The Asari brain is not that different in most parts, plus I don't have to wipe it clean. She was a commando that means that she was a strong biotic and used her skills often. All in all I couldn't wish for a better test subject than this, at least for some experiments. And with her I can do some more research into more developed biotic pathways in a body and then use it to enhance Shepard. Also I can find out if I can copy a human mind into the body of a member of a different species." _

He started his search for more info about Ardat-Yakshi victims and when he was done and considered all facts he nodded to himself, very pleased with what he found out.

_"That will do."_

He then called his assistant and gave him instructions to bring him that Asari.

Then he started to compose his report to TIM, after all that man would like to know why his organization will be abducting some brain-dead alien bint now, wouldn't he.

**One week later**

Orfanik nearly cackled with glee as one of his minions err… assistants had unloaded the med pod containing the body of his future test subject from a shuttle and started to move her into his lab.

He was quite surprised that acquiring her was not met with much resistance from TIM. He expected more questioning but he didn't look a gifted horse in the mouth.

On the other hand, the processes to create a new body for Commander Shepard from her parents' genetic materials were coming together splendidly. If he started working on it right now he would have a finished adult body for Shepard in about three weeks, give or take few days. So Orfanik was planning to start his experiments and tests on his Asari right away. As he started to ponder his future experiments and tests on her, he had walked to his lab where she was lying in her pod.

As he had entered the lab he strolled to the med pod that was there and looked through the clear canopy of it to examine his test subject.

His one eyed gaze swept her and his thoughts of experiments relented for a short while.

_"I should try to keep her alive…and if I am successful I should load her with that pleasure/servant bot mind I am developing. After I am done with experimenting."_

He thought to himself as he stared at her. She had a pretty face with high cheekbones and full lips. She was lying in the pod, only bandages barely covering her modesty which left very little to his imagination. She was not very tall only about 1.6 meters tall, but she had nice lean figure. She was nicely muscled with a larger chest, probably D-cup.

He was disturbed from his musings by his underling asking for instructions.

"I want a full examination and brain scans on the double!" He barked at his assistant. Then after a last longing look he turned on his heel and stalked back to his office.

Several hours later Orfanik was sitting in his office and reading brain scans and charts of his future test subject.

_"I will have to give her a name or something… I can't just call her asari all the time."_ He idly mused.

_"The Ardat-Yakshi did areal number on her brain, but nothing irreversible. The treatment she got from the hospital did most of the work for me." _

He then reviewed all his materials before he finally decided on his next course of action.

_"Tomorrow will be a lovely day for experiments."_

**AN: I would like to thank Tellur for all his work he did while he was beta reading this chapter and correcting my mistakes in it.**

**As Eisenstein spent many years travelling and working around Europe where he picked up colourful vocabulary of oaths from many European languages…**

**Thank you for reading. **


End file.
